Official figures released this week show that outer London is are losing out on vital investment in economic regeneration because of Ken Livingstone's obsession with Zone 1. Since 2000, Livingstone's London Development Agency (LDA) has spent over £1.1 billion on projects in the capital. However, most of this has been spent on Livingstone's own pet projects, with very little ever finding its way to outer London.

North London received only 7.6% of the total spent. Even worse, only £28 million was spent in the whole of South London - just 2.5% of the total. In North London, Barnet received the least amount of LDA funds - only £1.5 million. In contrast, the Mayor has spent over £106 million in Newham alone.

Under Livingstone, it is clear that outer London is losing millions of pounds worth of economic regeneration grants. The LDA is supposed to work for the benefit of the whole of the capital, but the evidence is that very little ever finds its way to suburban London. And there are many areas in outer London where there are significant problems which require urgent action on economic regeneration.

Paradoxically, it is outer Londoners who pay the majority of the Mayor's council tax precept, which has doubled since 2000 and which is set to double again in the next four years. The LDA figures are just the most recent example of the neglect of outer London by the current Mayor.

Responding to the figures, Peter Forrest, Conservative GLA Candidate for Enfield-Haringey, said:

"Livingstone just could not care a damn about outer London boroughs like Enfield or Haringey. To him, they are just 'milch cows' to help fund his Zone 1 fantasies. Of course, they did not vote for him in 2000 and now he is getting his own back. Yet there are local areas that are in desperate need of investment and economic regeneration. Livingstone has simply turned his back on the people who live in outer London".

ENDS.